


Waking Alone

by myworldisbiworld



Series: You & I [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Established Relationship, F/M, Married Couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-10-08 18:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17391620
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myworldisbiworld/pseuds/myworldisbiworld
Summary: Nora wakes up to find her son gone, but her husband is still alive.The adventures of Nora & Nate begin!





	Waking Alone

Nora thawed from her cryostasis still screaming.

As life flooded through her again, her throat cramped painfully and choking gasps overwhelmed her, black and red dots playing across her vision. She flexed her hands, then curled them into fists and slammed on the inside of the cryo pod door. Relief flooded her as she felt it give way, hissing as it slowly opened up. Immediately setting her sights on Nate, she used her hands to push herself forward, but fell flat onto the cold steel walkway when her legs refused to hold.

Unaware that her face was smothered in tears and snot, Nora clenched her jaw and dragged herself to the control panel for Nate’s pod. She hesitated before pushing the button, cringing as she got herself to stand, needles piercing through her aching muscles. Slamming a fist down on the button, she openly sobbed as the pod began to open.

Her husband slumped to the side, threatening to fall out of the pod. Nora pushed herself off the control panel and fell forward onto the side of his pod, one hand feebly gripping the side as the other searched out his wrist for a pulse. Immediate relief washed over her as she found him warm under her touch, and though his pulse was slow, it was clearly there, and her eyes caught his chest rising and falling it soft but steady breath.

Nora inhaled sharply, trying to steady herself, but her body was refusing to cooperate. Staring at her husband, she saw her vision blur as her eyes flooded with fresh tears. Memories flashed through her mind and she watched those strangers rip her baby away, Shaun’s cries echoing between her ears.

Suddenly, she was throwing up. Nausea pulsed through her, ripping at her throat, but it was over as soon as it had started, and it’s end came with a disturbing clarity. Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, Nora grit her teeth and pushed forward again, forcing herself onto her own feet. After a moment of trembling, the muscles stabilized and she found her balance.

Next, she skimmed her hands lightly over Nate and scanned him for any other injuries. There was no way for her to know if he had been injured any other way--she didn’t know how long they’d been in stasis or whatever else might have happened to them while they were inside.

She tried to rip a part of her Vault suit to use as a bandage, but the strange material refused to tear. Nora peeled off the top of her suit and slipped out of her undershirt to use that instead, ripping apart several strips that she used to carefully bandage Nate’s thawing temple wound. Shaking hands made the work next to impossible, but Nora clenched her jaw and stuck with it until there was a comfortable wrap around her husband’s head. Gingerly, she set him back against his cryopod, nestled against the wall, then stepped back and took a first real look at her surroundings.

Shivers wracked her body as she pulled her Vault suit back up, damp with sweat and chilled by the cryo room. Melting ice clung to everything, the sound of dripping interrupted only by the occasional evacuation warning. She listened carefully for human voices or activity, but there was nothing.

The door at the end of the room was still sealed. Nora limped to the terminal at the end of the pod row and flipped through the logs, frowning as she saw all the other residents listed as deceased from life support failure. Manual overrides had been applied to both her pod and Nate’s.

She shivered again, harder this time, breaking through the rush of adrenaline that had fueled her so far. Glancing back at Nate, she knew she had to get them out of this room and somewhere warm, where he could recover safely. And somewhere in this hell pit had to be a Stimpak that could quickly get him back on his feet.

Nora stumbled up the short stairs to get to the door and slide it open. A rush of warm air swept over her, soothing and relaxing, tempting her to fall asleep on her feet, but Nora shook her head and focused on what was around her. The hallway was as empty as the cryo room, the repetitive alarm the only sound. She took a few steps down the hallway to see the other rooms vacant, then turned around to get her husband.

Pain wracked her body as she hooked her arms under his and tried her best to carefully remove him from the pod. Along the way, she fell twice, hitting the cold steel hard, always twisting to ensure she cushioned Nate. Through it all the chill of Nate’s skin kept her going, the need to get him warm--get them both warm. When they finally crossed the threshold of the door, Nora slammed it shut and collapsed to the floor.

One arm draped around Nate, she let herself cry until she fell into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke, Nora had no idea how much time had passed, but this time she was warm and Nate was beside to her. Lying on his back, just as she had put him, his eyes were closed shut but his breathing was steady, no new blood on his bandage. Warmth and rest had revived her limbs, making it much easier to get up on her feet.

Now that they were out of the immediate danger of hypothermia, she could focus on comfort and care. Quickly, she bent back down and kissed his nose, then went off to scavenge what she could.

Silence filled the Vault, evacuation warnings dead and gone. She passed another room of inactive cryopods and darted for the terminal at the end of the room, unable to bring herself to look inside the pods. The terminal confirmed her fears--everyone here had died of pod-failure asphyxiation as well.

It didn’t take long to cover the rest of the vault. With no expectation of having the residents live there an extended time, there was little beyond the mess hall and security guard bunk room. After finding the skeletons of the Vault Tec staff, Nora’s mind reeled at the discovery that they were the sole survivors of Vault 111.

Given the state of the bones and lack of decomposing flesh, Nora came to the conclusion that decades had to have passed by since the staff had died out. It made sense that the cryostasis system would fail after years of no maintenance, but why were only she and Nate manually released?

Nora shuddered at the realization that whoever had saved their lives had also decided the death of all the others.

She scurried along, stretching her legs liberally as she went, trying to work the life back into them. As she passed by the generator room, she openly screamed. A huge, leggy shadow flew up against the window, flicking its wings before disappearing into the shadows again.

Was that a fucking _cockroach_?

Nora flattened herself against the opposite wall, but she slowly calmed down as she realized the thing was stuck beyond thick glass and heavy steel doors. Still, she reached out and picked up a heavy wrench from a nearby rolling cart. Who knew what else was out there?

Turns out, more giant roaches.

Nora’s tour of the rest of the vault resulted in recovering blankets, pillows, medicine, purified water, tech scrap… and bug bits in her hair. Though the water wasn’t running, there was enough melted ice in the cryopod room for Nora to rinse out the goop and change into a fresh Vault suit. She injected Nate with one of the stimpaks she found, then sat back to nibble on stale chips, staring at the rise and fall of his chest.

“Please wake up,” she whispered, precious tears dribbling down her face. She wiped them away, thinking of water conservation, then bit her lip to try and hold back another onslaught. Hounded by the memory of her baby being ripped away and the fear of watching her husband die, Nora was unsuccessful.

What if Nate didn’t wake up? Or what if something had been fucked up permanently? Nora was already terrified, surrounded by skeletons and massive cockroaches--the world above couldn’t be any better. How would she face it alone?

Nora and Nate had spent the last eight years together, victoriously inseparable. After meeting in college as a fling, their lives melded together so easily the changes were hardly noticeable. When the war threatened to tear them apart again, Nora withdrew from graduate school and enlisted to join Nate in Europe. Those days were nothing but pain and fear and death, but, together, they’d survived.

And for what?

Nora clenched her fists and snapped her eyes open--she hadn’t even realized she’d close them when her pain sucked her inward. Staring at Nate’s face, she leaned over and brushed hair from his brow, her trembling fingertips tracing his hairline.

“I know you’ll wake up, Nate,” she said firmly, for both of them, a frown drawing her brows close. “Just don’t keep me waiting too long.”

Sighing, she packed up her food. Taking a seat with her thigh pressed against Nate’s arm, Nora began to sort through the salvage. If she was forced to wait, she wouldn’t do it with idle hands. Glancing once more at her husband, Nora’s bottom lip trembled.

“Hurry up,” she whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to do a fic with an established, committed couple, so here goes! 
> 
> To see what Nate & Nora look like (or how my early sketches of them are going, ha), please check out my Tumblr! Same username. :)


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